Saeed Al Muntafiq

'His Highness (Dubai Crown Prince General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum) has had something like this in mind for the past five years,' says director general Saeed Al Muntafiq, 'But there was clearly a need for a government entity to go out and communicate.

'We also realise that only something like 0.2% of global foreign direct investment is coming to this region, and even less to Dubai, so there is still a tremendous opportunity to be tapped.'

He explains that all the Dubai Government Departments are committed to working together to implement His Highness's 2010 vision for a diversified Dubai economy with 70% of GDP from the service sector, and to position Dubai as a major hub in the world economy.

'At the top end our job has a macro strategy role in developing the Dubai economy in the way favoured by the IMF, World Bank and WTO. That means diversification, privatization, transparency, openness, the rule of law and international accounting standards. No other Dubai Government body has this kind of role.

'Secondly, our remit includes the development of specific FDI projects which makes us rather different to the other 23 investment promotion agencies in the region. We profile industries for diversification and design specific projects.'

Mr. Muntafiq gives the new Dubai Healthcare City as an example of a specific FDI project developed by the DDIA. Already more than 70% of the space in the DHCC has been taken up in this landmark free zone which will create a regional centre for world class healthcare.

'The University Hospital at the centre of the DHCC is a $680 million investment in itself, all from outside the UAE,' he adds, 'But you will have to wait for the investors themselves to announce who they are.'

A third part of the DDIA is the promotion of small and medium business enterprises, primarily through the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum project for young business leaders aimed at UAE nationals.

'But the DDIA is not a free zone,' explains Mr. Muntafiq, 'We are part of the Dubai Government and can issue regulations and make laws. We do not have a physical location or one free zone to promote. It is our job to position Dubai as a global gateway and we do not have a conflict of interest with other free zones.'

Meanwhile, Dubai stands ready to adapt to any changes in the region's geopolitics. Mr. Muntafiq diplomatically says, 'We are always prepared for whatever might happen. Change is a large component of everything Dubai does. But we are already a logistics hub, a trade hub and a centre for IT and media. Soon we will become a financial and investment hub, and also a healthcare hub.'

Real estate development and foreign ownership of the same go hand in glove with this approach to inward investment.

'In the DHCC the real estate will be owned by the investors who will be mainly foreign,' says Mr. Muntafiq.

'There are also areas we are not interested in promoting,' he adds, 'We are not interested in manufacturing, as we have neither raw materials nor a large domestic market.'

The DDIA is also tracking the development of the UAE's federal law on FDI, which Mr. Muntafiq expects will complement local legislation and give adequate flexibility to local requirements, 'We may just be able to work with the federal law alone if that is sufficient,' he says.

But what will be next for the DDIA, after finance and healthcare? Mr. Muntafiq hints that entertainment and leisure will be the next sector to feel his department's influence. Its mission will be to extract more dollars per visitor to Dubai.

As if to underline the DDIA's importance in the Dubai Government framework, this interview ends suddenly with a call from 'the one person whose calls I have to take'. Dubai's restless pursuit of the 2010 vision continues.